Starts With a Spin

Chapter 15

"But you don't mind talking to Hermione about it?" Ron asked, sounding a little bit offended.

"I don't go to her, trust me," Harry said hastily. "She has a knack for knowing when something is wrong. She usually asks me about it and...well...hell, it's Hermione! I mean, she was looking up safe sex spells for me when I hadn't even thought of such a thing. It's just how she is. Sometimes I think she's more worried about the state of our relationship than I am..."

Ron was staring at him, wide-eyed. "She was looking up safe sex spells for you?" he repeated faintly. Harry nodded.

"I know," he said. "She's off her rocker."

Ron laughed shortly. "That's Hermione for you," he said fondly. "Anyway, so what was wrong?"

"Just...stuff with the war," Harry replied, frowning. "Basically I was pretending it didn't exist and Draco was mad I was acting like we could forget about it."

"I did notice that, actually. How we stopped talking about it whenever he came around."

"Well...I mean, it's not like we can talk about how much Lucius Malfoy deserves to get his soul sucked out five times over or something when Draco's right there, you know?" Harry sighed, shaking his head. "I don't know how to handle it... And then he was mad I hadn't told him about my scar."

"Oh, so that's why he seemed so surprised about it this morning."

"Yeah." They were silent for a few moments, Harry playing idly with the bed cover and Ron chewing his lip thoughtfully before speaking.

"Harry," he began tentatively, frowning a little, "do you and Malfoy...I mean, obviously I'm not there when it's just the two of you...but do you actually talk about much of anything?"

"What do you mean?" Harry asked quickly. "Of course we talk."

"I always thought...that it was more of a-a physical thing. Sort of." Harry frowned, and Ron hastened to continue. "Not that I'm saying you're like...like-"

"Fuck-buddies?" Harry supplied, sounding terse.

"Er...yeah. I mean, there's obviously more to it than that, but you spend an awful lot of time in the Room of Requirement. And other then sitting with us at meals, Malfoy's not really around all that much and you're usually with us otherwise-"

"Ok, I get it," Harry snapped. He looked disgruntled. "We're not just...I...we...there's more to it than the physical stuff," he finally said firmly, even though his mind was going in circles suddenly. Hadn't Draco basically said the same thing? Of course they'd been fighting at the time... And it's not like they were at liberty to just go waltzing down to Hogsmeade for a proper date. There just weren't a lot of options, really.

"Sorry," Ron said softly.

"S'fine," Harry murmured, rubbing a hand over his eyes. "It's just...Draco said the same thing and I'm beginning to wonder..."

"Why do you like him?" Ron asked curiously. Harry shrugged, looking away.

"Sometimes I'm not sure," he said, smirking a little. "He can be such a git at times."

"At times?" Ron repeated incredulously. "Try always."

Harry grinned. "Nah, he just...well, frankly he just doesn't like you. And you don't like him, but I wasn't expecting that to change."

Ron snorted. "Good," he said, and paused for a second before continuing. "You know, I'm still half expecting you to end up with Ginny one day or something. It's still hard to believe you're with Malfoy of all people."